Storm Chandra – what are your rights if your travel is disrupted

Storm Chandra has swept across the UK, bringing severe disruption to roads, rail, ferry and air travel.

The third storm to batter the UK this month comes with yellow warnings for wind, rain, and snow across England, Scotland and Wales. Strong winds, heavy rain, and flooding have wreaked havoc with cancelled flights, trains, and ferries, as well as closed roads.

We cover the latest on Storm Chandra travel disruptions below and explain what compensation you’re entitled to.

Storm Chandra: is my train cancelled?

Storm Chandra is causing severe train delays and cancellations across England, Scotland and Wales today. Check before you travel, as journeys can be cancelled last minute as the situation changes.

Weather related disruptions are active for the following train companies:

• CrossCountry
• Southern and Thameslink
• Great Western Railway
• Island Line
• LNER
• ScotRail
• South Western Railway
• Transport for Wales

There are major disruptions reported between Wilmslow and Crewe and these are expected to last until the end of the day.

Major delays along the Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria line persist as well, due to a fire in Standedge Tunnel on Sunday. TransPenine Express services are impacted with services cancelled, delayed, or diverted where possible.

What are my rights if my train is cancelled or delayed?

If Storm Chandra has disrupted your train journey, you have certain rights depending on whether your train was cancelled or delayed.

Compensation if your train's cancelled

If your train's cancelled, you can usually get a full refund from the train company, no matter the reason for the cancellation.

If you still want to travel, you’re entitled to take the next available train or use another reasonable route at no extra cost. This can include other train operators.

Compensation if your train's delayed

You can usually claim money back through the Delay Repay scheme if your train's delayed by more than 15 minutes. Most train companies operate Delay Repay, which compensates you based on how long you were held up:

The exact amount varies by operator, but the rule of thumb is simple: longer delay = bigger payout.

TransPennine Express, for example, lets you claim 25% of your single ticket cost of 12.5% of your return ticket cost if you’re delayed for up to 30 minutes. Delays above 60 minutes come with up to 100% compensation as part of Delay Repay.

How to claim Delay Repay compensation

To make a Delay Repay claim, you typically need a Flexible or Advance ticket. The process is fairly simple. You’ll need to:

• go to your train’s Delay Repay claims page – each operator has their own.
• send proof of your journey – this can be a screenshot of your e-ticket, your booking reference, or a photo of your ticket.
• fill out the form – this is typically information like how long you were delayed for and how you’d like your compensation paid.

It’s worth claiming Delay Repay compensation. Last year, Trainline detected one million delayed journeys which would have been eligible for a refund. But, almost half of travellers never applied for train delay compensation.

Can you claim Delay Repay compensation if you choose not to travel?

If you choose not to travel during the delay, you should claim a refund for the unused part of your ticket rather than Delay Repay. You can do this within 28 days of your train ticket’s expiry date.